SAM Magazine—Telluride, Colo., Feb. 6, 2015—Members of the Telluride ski patrol will soon vote on whether to form a union, according to the Telluride Daily Planet. The report said patrollers filed a petition with National Labor Relations Board on Jan. 2 to have an election, which at least 30 percent of the group signed. All full-time...

SAM Magazine—Denver, Colo., Feb. 6, 2015—Nearly 400 mountain tourism and ski industry executives from destinations spanning North America convened Jan. 28 at the SIA Snow Show as part of The Assembly, a one-day forum that presents both a fact-based and knowledge-based assessment of the 2014-15 season at the midway point and identifies emerging ...

SAM Magazine—Mesa, Colo., Feb. 4, 2015—Four years after the purchase of Powderhorn Mountain Resort by Gart Capital Partners and Andy Daly, the resort is planning to invest $5 million in the coming year to improve the slopes for winter and summer recreation. Topping the list of capital investments is the installation of a Poma high-sp...

SAM Magazine—Fairport, N.Y., Feb. 4, 2015—Three new safety-related studies suggest that helmets reduce head injuries, ski and snowboard injuries overall are trending downward, and that terrain parks have not led to an increase in catastrophic injuries. All three studies are in the process of being published in the upcoming ASTM STP: Sel...

SAM Magazine—Danbury, N.H., Feb. 3, 2015—Ryan Schramm has been named general manager of Ragged Mountain Resort. Schramm, 36, joined the staff in 2010 and most recently served as director of business development, information technology (IT), F&B, and competitions. Prior to joining Ragged, Schramm, a lifelong skier, spent 11 years ...

SAM Magazine—Denver, Colo., Jan. 28, 2015—There’s stoke, and then there is the opposite of stoke. When Bill Jensen, former CEO of Intrawest, told a crowd of nearly 400 ski industry executives that from his view, 150 ski areas were in “the sunset of their existence” and an additional 150 ski areas could also be out of b...

SAM Magazine—Hancock, Mass., Jan. 27, 2015—State-wide travel bans in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York – all of which were subsequently lifted by mid-day Tuesday morning—were ordered in preparation for Winter Storm Juno that was expected to drop more than 2 feet of snow throughout the Northeast. The travel...

SAM Magazine—Woodbury, Conn., Jan. 27, 2015—SAM and SIA are once again sponsoring Rental + Backshop + Uniform at the SIA Snow Show in Denver Jan. 29-Feb. 1. The three exhibits give buyers a one-stop overview of market trends and key offerings from more than 50 suppliers and offer the chance to compare products side by side, free from sa...

SAM Magazine—White Haven, Pa., Jan. 26, 2015—Ski areas are reporting steady attendance over the Martin Luther King weekend despite short interruptions brought about by inclement weather in the Northeast and Pacific Northwest. Linda Irvin, executive director of the Pennsylvania Ski Areas Association (PSAA) said Saturday saw strong att...

SAM Magazine—Denver, Jan. 26, 2015—Total skier and snowboarder visits at 21 Colorado resorts during the first part of the season were one percent shy of last year’s record pace, according to Colorado Ski Country USA (CSCUSA). The data reflects visits from Oct. 17 through Dec. 31, 2014. Last season’s early season skier and...

SAM Magazine—Gaylord, Mich., Jan. 23, 2015—The University of Michigan chapter of the Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity has been suspended indefinitely by the national office after its members were named as suspects for having caused nearly $75,000 worth of damage at Treetops ski area Jan. 16-17. The Sigma Delta Tau sorority is also accused of b...

SAM Magazine—Woodbury, Conn., Jan. 22, 2015—Cutter's Camp registration is now open for both of this year's sessions, at Loon Mountain, N.H., April 12-14 and Timberline, Mt. Hood, Ore., May 11-15. Space will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Registrations are processed at www.cutterscamp.com.

SAM Magazine—Pine Crest, Calif., Jan. 22, 2015—Yesterday, Dodge Ridge and Donner Ski Ranch became the latest ski areas in California to suspend operations due to a lack of snow. Badger Pass, Mt. Shasta, and Alta Sierra are also closed. The news comes just as two Federal agencies released a pair of forecasts regarding Western water co...

SAM Magazine—Montpelier, Vt., Jan. 22, 2015—Doug Hoffer, Vermont State Auditor, said the state should to be charging higher rates for use of its mountain lands. Hoffer says the money the state gets out of current lease payments, about $3 million, doesn’t reflect the value of the state’s land, according to a report by Vermont...

SAM Magazine—Lakewood, Colo., Jan. 22, 2015—The National Ski Patrol (NSP) has re-elected Ed McNamara as the organization's board chair, effective Jan. 10, 2015. McNamara will serve a second term as board chair in his third year on the board. As board chair, McNamara plans to enhance the educational opportunities the NSP provides ...